Top Crypto News – 21/11/2017

Pirate Party Founder: “Those Who Used to Be Poor, Nerdy, Geeky… Are Suddenly the New Millionaires”

Rick Falkvinge, the founder of the world’s first pirate party, discussed the revolutionary potential of bitcoin and cryptocurrency while speaking with RT on Monday. Mr. Falkvinge recently issued a satirical ‘manifesto’ for bitcoin cash in which he claimed the title “Chief Executive Officer of Bitcoin Cash” to emphasize the permissionless nature of the network.

Mr. Falkvinge Describes Bitcoin As “A Huge Wealth Transfer”

Rick Falkvinge was asked by RT to discuss the ramifications of cryptocurrency’s growing popularity, with the Russian state-owned media organization describing bitcoin as a “new gold rush” and the potential catalyst for a “radical financial revolution.”

Mr. Falkvinge states “bitcoin right now is a huge wealth transfer to those who understand its implications early on. The last wealth transfer of this magnitude was around 1850, and it was about those who’d found oil.” Mr. Falkvinge describes said “wealth transfer” as having broad implications for capitalism and technological innovation. He states “those who used to be poor, nerdy, geeky… are suddenly the new millionaires. And that… is going to have a profound effect on what the future of our society looks like. Because for the last 200 years or so, it were the people who found oil that decided where money went, what research was made. And when the geeks and nerds are sitting on that money and deciding what research gets made – it’s not going to be a better diesel engine. It’s going to be a better solar panel.”

Mr. Falkvinge describes bitcoin’s trustless protocol as significantly altering the dialectical relations between persons, stating “when I’m buying a bottle of water with a credit card someone in the background there’s a bank giving me permission to buy a bottle of water with a credit card. And that is a horrifying thought. Because that means that the bank can also deny me permission to buy a bottle of water… With bitcoin, this is not true. There is nobody needing to give permission in the background. There’s nobody who gets to say no to a transaction. No money can be forced. No money can be seized. And here’s a big problem for governments in the future. Taxes can no longer be forced.”

Rick Falkvinge Expects That Bitcoin’s Price May Reach Seven Figures

Mr. Falkvinge predicted that bitcoin would see thousandfold price gains back in 2011. Despite such, he still believes that bitcoin’s price can continue to climb, stating “if cryptocurrency fulfills its promise – and there’s no indication it wouldn’t – then the equivalent of one bitcoin needs be in the 2 to 5 million dollar range,” adding “at that point, it won’t make sense to measure it in US dollars because USD won’t have any measurable value.” Nevertheless, Mr. Falvkinge states that bitcoin “is a really risky investment,” emphasizing that “nobody should ever invest in more than being capable of losing every single last cent of it.”

When asked of bitcoin’s shortcomings, Mr. Falkvinge states that the cryptocurrency “is too complicated, it is not usable enough at all.” He likens the introduction of the new technological phenomena as comparable to the introduction of electricity in the 1920’s, emphasizing that challenges associated with creative destruction are common with the roll-out of groundbreaking technologies.

Regarding concerns pertaining to the anonymity of bitcoin, Mr. Falkvinge states “it is more traceable than any money that came before it because every single unit of bitcoin is traceable through its entire monetary history.” When asked about bitcoin’s potential to be used for illegal activities, Mr. Falkvinge responded by stating “I’ve never heard somebody arguing against the existence of the US dollar with that argument. If you’re going after drugs and narcotics trade, then the US dollar is unparalleled in use.”

Written by Bitcoin.com

Tether Claims $30 Million in US Dollar Token Stolen By Attacker

Tether, the company behind a dollar-pegged cryptocurrency widely used in the market’s exchange trade, is claiming that its systems have been hacked and that $30 million worth of its tokens have been stolen.

In a post on the project’s website (which has since been removed), Tether blamed a “malicious action by an external attacker” for the theft of $30,950,010 USDT yesterday. Originally launched as Realcoin and later rebranded, Tether aims to serve as a proxy for the US dollar that can be sent between exchanges including Bitfinex, Poloniex and other markets.

In response, Tether said it would move swiftly to ensure these exchanges do not trade or otherwise introduce the stolen funds back into the cryptocurrency economy.

The company wrote:

“$30,950,010 USDT was removed from the Tether Treasury wallet on Nov. 19, 2017 and sent to an unauthorized bitcoin address. As Tether is the issuer of the USDT managed asset, we will not redeem any of the stolen tokens, and we are in the process of attempting token recovery to prevent them from entering the broader ecosystem.”

Notably, the company said that it is releasing a new version of the Omni Core software client (which Tether runs on top of) in a bid to effectively lock up the tokens it alleges were stolen. Should nodes in the network adopt the software, it would effectively blacklist the stolen address, enacting an emergency fork to contain the funds.

Representatives from the Omni Core software project said they would seek to release new software in the coming days that will allow Tether to retrieve the stolen tokens.

Observers online spotted the move earlier today, stoking speculation about the nature of the freeze.

“The tether.to back-end wallet service has been temporarily suspended. A thorough investigation on the cause of the attack is being undertaken to prevent similar actions in the future,” Tether wrote.

The announcement comes amid a period of growing discussion – and controversy – around Tether.

Under scrutiny has been the unclear relationship between Tether and the troubled British Virgin Islands-based bitcoin exchange Bitfinex – and long-standing allegations the exchange has been using the asset to engage in fraud and market manipulation. Complicating matters is that the two companies are said to share a common ownership, though details remain murky as to the exact nature of the connection.

As such, today’s hack claims are likely to further drive the controversy, which began following Bifinex’s hack last August, in which it lost more than $70 million in customer funds.

Following the news, other exchanges that offer order-book trading on Tether have taken steps to freeze trading, with China-based Huobi and OKCoin announcing the move shortly after the post.

Keyboard with dollar overlaid via Shutterstock
Written by CoinDesk

Bitcoin $400,000 Says Investing Guru Mark Yusko

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) has announced it will add Bitcoin futures trading in the fourth quarter of 2017. Bitcoin price almost instantaneously jumped on the news, reaching all-time highs over $7,500.

However, the cancellation of SegWit2x has led to a sudden slump in the price, and would-be investors have been scared away from previous high priced predictions. However, Mark Yusko, founder and CEO of Morgan Creek Capital Management ($3.7 bln in assets under management) has not shied away from making predictions, suggesting that Bitcoin will eventually be worth $400,000.

The investing guru first bought into the cryptocurrency scene in 2011 but regrets not purchasing more. He was clear about the future, however, in spite of the lack of support among institutional bankers. He noted:

“This will change the supply and demand equation for banking. It is that big. I’m not surprised at all that bankers, financiers and Saudi Princes are coming out against it. This is a truly disruptive technology.”

Yusko compared Blockchain and Bitcoin to the Internet thirty years ago, noting that it has the same capacity to ‘change everything.’ His lofty prediction is for the long term of the cryptocurrency.

Written by CoinTelegraph

German FinTech Company NAGA Group to Launch Token Pre-Sale

NAGA’s pre-sale is LIVE! More than 5 mln USD collected in less than one day! Join now to get a 30% bonus!

Who is The NAGA Group?

Founded in 2015, The NAGA Group AG broke records earlier this year, launching the fastest-performing German IPO in the last 15 years. Listed on the German Stock Exchange in Frankfurt, NAGA Group shares are currently trading at nearly 500% above their original issue price. The company employs a team of over 120 people and has a market cap of over $250 million USD.

The NAGA Group’s flagship product is SwipeStox. Combining social features like chat channels, timeline updates, following and watching other users, etc. With a robust trading platform, SwipeStox is designed to take the confusion out of trading. Launched in 2015, SwipeStox boasts tens of thousands of active users, millions of dollars in revenues, and a total trade volume of over $49 billion to date.

Switex, another NAGA Group product, is the first independent legal virtual goods exchange platform. It allows video game players to buy in-game virtual items from other gamers as well as from the game publishers themselves. Other virtual items, such as concert and movie tickets, e-gift cards, etc., can also be bought and sold on the platform. Switex is expected to launch in Beta in Q4 2017.

NAGA Token Pre-Sale

The NAGA token pre-sale will begin on November 20, 2017 and will end on November 27, 2017, or when the pre-sale token supply (20 million NGC) sells out.

Start Date: 20 November 2017 (00:00 CET)

End Date: 27 November 2017 (23:59 CET)

Token Price: 1 NGC = $1.00 USD (30% bonus during pre-sale)

Accepted currencies: BTC, BCH, ETH, LTC, DASH, EUR, USD

Biggest Names in the Cryptocommunity Join NAGA Group

As if NAGA Group wasn’t stirring up enough excitement already, on November 15, 2017, they announced that two of the biggest names in cryptocurrency – Bitcoin.com CEO Roger Ver and COO Mate Tokay – had joined the project’s Advisory Board. In addition, it was revealed that the founder of the Evercoin cryptocurrency exchange and Pantera Capital LP, Miko Matsumura, had joined the Advisory Board as well.

All three men bring a wealth of cryptocurrency and financial knowledge and experience to the table and it will e interesting to see how their influence and guidance will help shape the project’s future.